Michelle Peluso to Become CEO of Flash-Sale Site

Ms. Peluso, who is a member of Gilt's board, will replace founder and CEO Kevin Ryan in February. The news was first reported by AllThingsD. She had been with Citi in a permanent role since 2010, after a stint as a consultant for the financial firm. The new gig won't be Ms. Peluso's first stab at being CEO. As the 32-year-old CEO of Travelocity, she was one of the youngest CEO's in the country.

In an interview with Ad Age this fall, Ms. Peluso said she was drawn to Citi for a variety of reasons.

"The first thing that attracted me to Citi was what, in a way, attracted me to Travelocity: a transformative time for a company and a leadership group that really is open and eager for digital," Ms. Peluso said. "I also met a lot of great people [while consulting there] who I thought were really terrific and deserved to win again. And third, I just thought the intersection of marketing and technology and consumers was a really fascinating challenge."

Since that interview, the company has announced the departure of its CEO and COO. And this week it said it would lay off 11,000 employees, as it looks to cut costs, boosts profits and aid its recovery from the financial crisis.

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Natalie Zmuda

Natalie Zmuda oversees the CMO Strategy section and is responsible for identifying and analyzing the latest trends impacting chief marketers. Natalie also covers the retail and non-alcoholic beverage categories. She joined Advertising Age in 2008, following five years covering the retail and fashion industries for Conde Nast Publications.